Woodland’s Pork Mountain Ham Recalled for lack of Inspection

The Cure House of Louisville, Ky. is recalling an undetermined amount of cured pork products that were produced without the benefit of federal inspection, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today. Consumers who have purchased this product should not eat it.

The recalled cured ham items were produced from 2009 thru Dec. 19, 2015. They were sold in various weights, individually wrapped labelled “Woodland’s Pork Mountain Ham.” The code “Est. 44888” inside the USDA mark of inspection. They were shipped to distributors in Kentucky and New Jersey.

Dove Snowflakes, recalled for the undeclared allergens peanuts, wheat and egg, were sold at Walmart. Consumers with sensitivities or allergies to these ingredients should not eat them as they could experience a serious reaction.

In Canada, Bothwell Cheese Recalled for Listeria

Bothwell Cheese Inc. is recalling shredded cheeses for possible Listeria monocytogenes contamination. Consumers who have purchased these cheeses should not eat them as Listeria can cause serious illness.The recalled cheeses were sold in Quebec, Manitoba and Saskatchewan. They include: White Cheddar Shred, Old Cheddar Shred, Mild Shred and Old Shred in 10kg packages with Lot # 151030. And Mozzarella Blend Shredded Cheese in 340g packages with lot number Lot # 160626 Best Before JUN 26 16 and UPC 0 58898 34082 1.

Salmonella is a bacterium of which more than 2400 different types (called serotypes) have been identified. The bacterium can be found in the gastrointestinal tract of wild and domestic animals, birds (especially poultry), reptiles, amphibians (for example, terrapins), and occasionally humans.

Infection with salmonella can cause watery and sometimes bloody diarrhoea, abdominal pain, headache, nausea, vomiting, and fever. Salmonella is one of a number of organisms that gives rise to illness collectively known as ‘food poisoning’

Bravo Recalls Pet Food for Possible Salmonella Contamination

Bravo Pet Foods of Manchester, CT, is recalling a select lot of Bravo Chicken Blend diet for dogs & cats with a best-used-by date of 11/13/16 due to the possible presence of Salmonella. Bravo is also recalling three additional items that did not test positive for Salmonella but were manufactured on the same day.These products were sold to distributors, retail stores, Internet retailers, and directly to consumers in the U.S.The following product is being voluntarily recalled because of the possible presence of Salmonella:

Product

Item #

Size

Best Used by Date

UPC

Bravo Blend Chicken diet for dogs & cats – chub

21-102

2 lb.(32oz.) chub

11-13-16

829546211028

The recall was initiated after routine testing of a 2-lb. chub of Bravo Chicken Blend diet for dogs and cats (Item #21-102) by the Colorado State Department of Agriculture and collected at a single retailer revealed the presence of Salmonella. Two hundred and one cases of this product were sold to distributors, retail stores, and directly to consumers in the U.S. between 11/21/14 and 1/15/15.

Raw oysters imported from Korea and sold in bulk to distributors and food establishments in Hawaii are being recalled.The Hawaii State Department of Health (DOH) said the individually quick frozen (IQF) packaged under the Dai One Food Company label, with shellfish harvest dates of Feb. 10 -13, 2015, with shellfish tags on all shellfish cases are subject to the recall.The department has already conducted product tracebacks and embargoed all of the suspect product on Nov. 24 at various local shellfish distributors and restaurants, said Peter Oshiro.

“Although this product is not sold directly to the public, a recall has been issued as an additional safeguard to further notify anyone who may possess the product that it is unsafe and should be destroyed,” he said.

In addition to Costco’s chicken salad, the celery was used in sandwiches, wraps, vegetable trays, cornbread stuffing and other items sold at a variety of stores. Affected stores include 7-Eleven, King Soopers, Raley’s, Save Mart, Albertsons, Safeway, Vons, Starbucks, Target, Walmart and Sam’s Club.

TPP Deal Finally Revealed

Details of the long-secret Trans-Pacific Partnership are public at last: it will undermine the safety of our food supply, make medicine more expensive, and give power to the biotech monopoly. Action Alert!

A few weeks ago, the full textof the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal was finally released after many years of closed-door negotiations between officials from the US and eleven other countries, all of whom border the Pacific Ocean. Its provisions were apparently kept secret from all but the biotech and pharmaceutical industries.

Leaked documents during the trade negotiations provided reason to be concerned about the final agreement. And now, a review of the deal’s twenty-nine chapters and five thousand pages proves these early concerns were completely justified. The final package now awaits a vote in Congress, which is likely to take place in Spring 2016.

Here are some of the most pressing concerns for natural health advocates:

It Undermines the Safety of the Food Supply

The TPP contains a number of provisions that threaten current food safety laws.

Generally speaking, passage of the TPP would mean that any US food safety law concerning things like pesticides, food additives, or labeling that is more stringent than “international standards” may be considered an “illegal barrier” to trade, and subject to enforcement. We have learned to beware of such “international standards.” They are largely determined by global special interests.

The TPP expands corporate power in other ways. The deal includes an investor-state dispute settlement(ISDS) system in which multinational corporations can challenge a host company’s regulations in an international court. ISDS has been a fixture in other trade treaties, including NAFTA (the North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement), and has been used to challenge countries’ economic policies, anti-smoking efforts, and environmental preservation laws. It is another giveaway to Big Food and other powerful multinational interests—a recurring theme throughout the TPP document.

The trade agreement also undercuts US efforts to inspect food imports. The agreement limits food import inspections at the border “to what is reasonable and necessary,” and if an issue arises, a country must also provide an “opportunity for a review of the decision.” This provision, referred to as the Rapid Response Mechanism, may give exporting countries the right to challenge basic food safety provisions in the US.

It Gives New Patent Protections to Big Pharma

The TPP contains an entire chapter on intellectual property rights, with many provisions relating to pharmaceutical patents. No doubt heavily influenced by the pharmaceutical industry, the trade deal will force signatory countries to accept many of the same patent laws that have kept drug prices so astronomically high in the US.

The deal would extend and broaden certain patent and data protections for the pharmaceutical industry, which Big Pharma can then use to keep prices high and delay competition from generics. It is a wonderful gift to the pharmaceutical industry—but a grave loss to patients in developing countries looking for access to affordable drugs.

The TPP also allows a practice known as “evergreening,” which lets drug companies extend a patent on an old drug when it can be used to treat a new condition—another boon for Big Pharma’s monopoly power.

Even when Big Pharma loses in the TPP, it wins. One of the more controversial topics in TPP negotiations concerned patent and data protections for biologic drugs—medicines derived not from inert chemical compounds but from living organisms. Big Pharma wanted twelve years of exclusivity— they already have this in the US—and US trade officials pushed hard in the negotiations to make this the standard. Instead, the deal grants them at least five years of exclusivity and as much as eight.

It’s Also a Gift to Biotech Seed Companies

Finally, the TPP deal expands biotech’s monopoly over the seed industry. The deal requires all twelve countries to join a number of global intellectual property treaties. One of these treaties is the 1991 International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV91), which emphasizes the rights of seed companies over farmers. Among other things, UPOV91:

Requires intellectual property (IP) protection for all plant species;

Provides IP protection for 20 to 25 years; and

Stops farmers from exchanging seeds—a common and important practice in many developing nations and indeed throughout human history.

In countries that have not already turned agriculture over to the biotech industry, this could mean a substantial rewrite of regulations meant to protect farmers.

Other treaties that signatory countries are compelled to join make it easier to apply for patents—making it very likely that more plants and seeds will be patented.

If these gifts to industry were not enough, President Obama moved earlier this summer to have the deal “fast-tracked”—that is, Congress will be given a fixed period to review the agreement, after which time legislators must make a yes/no vote without the possibility of amending the deal. Essentially, it’s “take it or leave it.”

We say: leave it. And if the US does reject it, do not worry about losing the reduction of tariffs that is already included. There will just be a second (and, we hope, a better) version to replace it.

Action Alert! Write to your members of Congress and urge them to oppose the TPP deal, which undermines consumers and farmers and extends monopoly rights to major industries. Please send your message immediately.

According to a statement from Friends of the Earth, Walmart and Publix are among the last remaining large retail grocers in the U.S. that have not yet rejected GMO salmon.

“The market is rejecting GMO salmon. Stores won’t sell it and people don’t want to eat it,” said Friends of the Earth Campaigner Dana Perls. “Now other retailers like Walmart and restaurants need to follow suit, and we need mandatory GMO labeling so that consumers know how to avoid GMO salmon.”

More than 60 grocery store chains representing more than 9,000 stores across the U.S. have made commitments to not sell GMO salmon, including Safeway, Kroger, Target, Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, Aldi and many others.

The nation’s largest seafood restaurant is also denying GMO salmon. Red Lobster, with 705 North American locations and more than 40 internationally, told the Dallas Morning News that it would not sell GMO salmon last Friday.

Incidentally, consumers might not even know they’re eating GMO salmon. AquaBounty’s salmon, which is genetically altered to grow to market size in half the time of conventional salmon, will not require a GMO label under FDA guidelines.

It’s unclear if we’ll ever see labels for genetically altered food, period—not just salmon. Currently, the hotly contested Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act—dubbed by opponents as the Denying Americans the Right to Know Act or DARK Act—languishes in the Senate.

The act, H.R. 1599, which passed the House of Representatives in July, bans states from issuing mandatory labeling laws for foods containing GMOs. The bill gives the FDA the authority to establish national standards and regulations for GMO food. The Department of Agriculture would be granted full discretion over the law’s implementation.

In November, more than 1,000 customers were potentially exposed to Hepatitis A after having their meal at McDonald’s prepared by an employee who was recently diagnosed (Nov. 13th) with the virus. The employee who works at a location in Waterloo, New York, could have contaminated food, utensils or dishes if they didn’t wash their hands after using the bathroom. The Seneca County Health Department has advised the community that if they ate at the Waterloo McDonald’s on Nov. 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th and or 8th, that they need to be tested and vaccinated.

However, one customer is suing.

The branch’s owner, Jascor Inc., is being sued by Christopher Welch in a class-action lawsuit, filed on Nov. 18th, for potentially exposing people to the virus, which causes liver infections. Mr. Welch ate at the restaurant on at least one occasion when the worker was present so he received the vaccination. Some of the customers who ate there during that time have said they will get tested but not get the vaccine.

5 Debilitating Health Conditions Linked To M&M’S Candies

With a crunchy shell and sweet, milk chocolate inside, M&M’S are a tempting treat few can refuse. Unfortunately, the sweet candies are far from healthy and are created with ingredients that are linked to a number of debilitating health conditions.

As Living Traditionally reports, ingredients used in the manufacturing of the candies are linked to everything from cancer, migraines, and hyperactivity to allergies and anxiety.

The chocolaty treat has an intriguing history. Created by Mars Inc., the candies were dreamt up in 1941 as a way to allow soldiers to carry chocolate without worry of it melting.

Over the years, its iconic logo and humorous advertising have made it a favorite in over 100 countries. With ingredients that have been found to adversely affect health, however, it’s time consumers get educated on what they’re actually consuming and opt for healthier cacao treats if a sweet fix is in order.

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